


After the Fire Comes the Rainbow

by diefleder_tey



Category: Arashi (Band), Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-25
Updated: 2013-09-25
Packaged: 2017-12-27 13:46:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/979640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diefleder_tey/pseuds/diefleder_tey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Great Wizard Aiba...well, okay, the Sometimes Spectacular Wizard Aiba...alright, fine, the Not Completely Horrible Wizard Aiba finds his world flipped upside down when he gets fired from his job.  Luckily for him, adventure is always around the corner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After the Fire Comes the Rainbow

**Author's Note:**

> Written for tinyangl for 2013's [je-otherworlds](http://je-otherworlds.livejournal.com/profile). If you're not sure what stocks are, "locked in the stocks" on google images has some good examples.

"Okay," Aiba said. He inhaled quickly, too excited to take a deep breath, and repeated, "Okay, okay." He was pressed up against the desk tightly, his shoulders hunched up and his left hand cupped, as if to shield a precious jewel away from prying eyes. He traced a tiny pattern above the desk - a hook, then back up, over and down again. A small flame trailed behind the motions, the lines flickering into thickness until Aiba leaned away to look at his creation - and it looked back. It was crude, like a child's drawing with red and yellow paint; the head was barely distinguishable from the neck, with dots for eyes that stared up with curiosity. Aiba giggled, relaxing his shoulders. Of all the animals he had seen on his travels, this was his favorite. It started to walk around and with every ounce of concentration Aiba began to work on giving it a small flaming tree to browse.

As he was flicking out his fingers to make the branches, a thought drifted into his mind - they had called this animal...a what? A Twiga? "Ladies and Gentlemen!" Was that right? He mouthed the sound - it felt sort of right. They didn't have anything like it where he was from. Well, he thought, sort of. They had deer. It was like a deer. But taller. And with a long neck. And weird antlers. And the spots were backwards. "We're proud to present..."

Okay. Nothing like a deer at all.

The breeze floated in and the tiny creature took cover behind the tree. "Ah!" he exclaimed, hopping off of his stool to shut the door. He could make a dozen different animals no one in the kingdom had ever seen before - or, at least, close approximations from what he could remember. Aiba had gotten into traveling - "...our very own wizard..." - specifically into this job, just so that he could see the world. Getting to experience weird animals at the same time was merely a perk.

"Something you've never seen, ever..."

He closed the door to block out the breeze. When he turned, the little fire creature was nuzzling against the tree. "That's so cute," he said.

"Uh, ever. ...the Great Masaki!"

Aiba froze in his tracks. He didn't just shut out the breeze; he had shut out his introduction too. He opened the door again, this time to the sound of applause that set him scrambling around the room, looking for his coat and putting it on as quickly as he could. One step out, two steps back in - Aiba snapped his fingers and said out loud, "Can't forget my hat." The applause was starting to thin out, but who ever heard of a wizard without a hat? Audiences demanded hats. It's what set him apart from the jugglers and the jesters.

He quickly found it lying on the floor next to the desk. After adjusting it on his head, he turned his attention to the little flame creature and told it, "Wish me luck!"

Aiba was almost out the door again when it occurred to him - there _was_ something else that separated him from jugglers and jesters: the fact that he was a wizard and a fire wizard at that. And he was about to walk out of the door with a tiny flame creature still galloping around a wooden desk.

"...the Great Masaki!" This time his introduction was said through gritted teeth.

Aiba panicked, not sure what to do with the little fire animal. He couldn't leave it or the whole caravan would burn down. And he couldn't pick it up to take on stage with him - one only had to try that twice before searing the pain of fire into memory forever. The tiny creature cocked its flickering head to the side at his movement. The applause outside was dead - only a few coughs littered the air.

Aiba's face fell. "I'm sorry," he told the animal. "Really, really sorry." He took his hat and beat it against the desk to extinguish the flame, all the while with a pained expression.

"Aiba get out here!" came an angry yell.

The creature and the tiny tree disappeared from the wood and spread out on the rim of the hat. Aiba cried out in panic and beat it on the desk harder. When that didn't work, he threw it down on the ground and began stomping until finally a small wisp of smoke floated into the air. He sighed in relief and quickly regained his wits, grabbing the hat from the ground and sloppily sticking it on his head as he ran through the door and crossed the grass between the caravan and the stage, running up the backstairs and busting through the curtain with his arms wide open and panting slightly.

The audience resumed their applause at his appearance. Not a bad crowd - lots of children with their mothers, a few interested townsmen who were pulled away from their work with the promise of a wizard. A great wizard, even.

He laughed, partially out of nervousness and partially out of habit. The giggling ran through his greeting as he told the audience, "I am the Great Masaki."

On cue, the traveling show's three piece band started playing and Aiba showed the audience his palms, open and bare. He put them together and took a deep breath. In anticipation, the audience leaned forward, ready to see the great wizard's first spell.

Aiba got on his knees, then down on his elbows. He quickly drew in the air in front of him, loops and lines and dots, the streak of fire trailing behind and lingering in shapes. He started with something they all knew - a chicken, with long tail feathers of fire jutting out. Then he moved onto what they all knew but few had ever seen - a bear, growling with a fiery mouth and flaming teeth. And then he went for his finale - a great serpent, long and twisted, blowing its own little puff of smoke. The music reached its crescendo and Aiba stood, beckoning the kids in the audience to come closer and witness the creatures. "Ta-da!"

One or two people clapped as the adults looked around, slightly confused. "Is that one a rabbit?" one asked.

"It's a chicken!" Aiba snapped back. He stood proudly among his menagerie, his awesome display of years of study.

All three creatures were the size of his thumb.

"Ah," said a woman in the audience. "I get it! This is just the start, to get the kids interested!" She nodded, looking around for agreement.

The flame bear had decided to take a nap. The flame serpent looked like it was coughing. The flame chicken had begun to wander off stage. "Uh," Aiba giggled nervously. "Ta-da!" he announced again.

"That's it?" another audience member asked. A child started crying.

That's it? He made animals out of fire! Whatever could be better than that?! "Wait, wait," he said as they started to stand to leave. "I can make animals you've never seen before!" He quickly made the hook and table shape from before. "See? The legendary Twiga!"

A father covered his young daughter's eyes and ushered her away. "That's a poorly drawn horse with a long neck."

"It's a Twiga!"

"I want my money back," another audience member shouted. Agreement echoed out and they began to look around for the ticket man. "What a rip off. I could have stayed home and waited for The Nabber to rob my house. At least that would have been worth my money," one man complained.

Aiba was about to argue with him about the merits and complexities of getting a tiny serpent made out of fire to release just the right amount of smoke when he noticed the chicken was pecking around the curtains. "Ah, no! No, no, come here!"

The audience drained away from the stage and Aiba was left to dive after the chicken - reaching it with a quick "ouch" before having to shake out his hand and stick his finger in his mouth. The musicians packed up quietly. They kept a bucket of water nearby just in case the show ever got out of hand. The drummer half-heartedly put it on the stage, well out of Aiba's reach, with a shrug before leaving to dissemble his instrument.

"That's not helpful," Aiba called out to him, turning his attention back to the chicken - just in time to see a boot stomp down on it, putting out the flames. Aiba looked up; the face of his very unhappy MC stared down.

Aiba laughed nervously. "You're mad?"

"What do you think?" Ryo barked. "The entire crowd wanted a refund - _again._ "

Aiba felt like that was unfair. The juggler had been great, the musicians did their best. Even a tiny cat made of fire was worth the price, really - let alone three magnificent beasts.

"You know why this keeps happening, right?"

"You're a terrible MC?" slipped out before Aiba could catch it. He quickly stood and patted Ryo on the shoulders, smoothing out the cloth and smiling brightly in a vain hope to wipe the last ten seconds from his memory. On second thought, Aiba guessed it wasn't so unfair. Ryo was awkward and never knew what to say in front of the crowds, often times just blurting out their names and walking off stage embarrassed; the juggler was excellent but tossed out more bad jokes than he tossed up rings; the musicians were good, but maybe in hindsight a drummer, a lutist and a guy who just slapped a bucket in time with the other two wasn't exactly the best accompaniment. And there was something disappointing about a grand finale that lasted two minutes lest it burn the entire stage down.

And to think, they were the A-team of Johnny's Traveling Circus.

"You're fired," Ryo replied.

"You're not that bad of an MC," Aiba said, his mouth moving before his brain could stop it.

Ryo sighed. "When people pay money to see a wizard, they expect spells they can see past the first row. Look, your hometown's close, we could drop you off-"

Aiba waved his hands and shook his head no. "It's in the wrong direction. You can just leave me here, I'll walk."

His town sat out on the very edge, the tip of the kingdom's border. But it wasn't that far from where they were now: the main city where the nobility and most of the people lived, just before the castle of the king. As a kid he used to wander over all the time; he probably knew the ins and outs of the city as well as his own street. The circus was headed west; no sense in making them double back east just to kick him out.

"Look," Ryo said, uncomfortable and struggling to find the appropriate words. "I'm sorry, but-"

"It's okay," Aiba reassured him. "I joined to see the world, right?"

Ryo relaxed. "That's right."

"And I saw a lot of new places, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. Wow, there's no way I could have expected you to actually be good at this!"

"Hey..."

Ryo patted him on the shoulder. "I bet you're actually really relieved!"

Before Aiba could turn it into a battle of who had the more careless mouth, Ryo gave him another pat and an awkward nod before leaving. Aiba wondered if it was his way of saying, "Thanks for all of your hard work!" or if he'd at least come back to say good-bye. When it became clear that Ryo had no intention of returning, Aiba clapped the dust off of his hands with an, "Oh." Oh well, at least it was better than leaving with a lecture.

He turned to exit the stage, only to find the small lutist staring at him with the bucket of water in his hands, half empty. "I put out the snake while you were talking. Do you know where the bear is?"

The smell of smoke drifted into Aiba's nose and his muscles clenched tight as he heard Ryo yell out his name somewhere in the midst of their caravan. He quickly grabbed one of the lutist's hands, pulling it from the bucket, unbalancing him as he shook his arm up and down vigorously. "It was really great working with you I hope things go well thanks for all of your help bye!"

Aiba ran off stage and headed toward the crowd, smaller now but still lingering around the ticket man. He pulled his hat off and stuffed it into his pocket, hoping to blend in as he moved through them. It was a foolproof plan - Ryo wouldn't be stupid enough to purposefully walk into an angry group of customers who wanted their money back, and in a few minutes he'd be so occupied with packing up the caravan that Aiba would be able to sneak back in to get his things.

He couldn't help but beam. Ryo would never be stupid enough. Never be...stupid...enough...to... Aiba quickly looked around him and started inching backwards, careful not to make any sudden movements that would catch the corner of one of the customer's eyes. He held his breath until he was sure he was out far enough that his gaping exhale of relief wouldn't give him away. It was one thing to tempt fate by walking into an angry crowd that was hungry for a refund after the bitter taste of his act; it was suicide to wait around for them to notice. The more he thought about it, the more he decided that there really was no reason to go back to the caravan. He had his hat, he had his clothes. Something told him he wasn't going to get paid that week anyway. Best, he decided, to leave it be and move on.

And so Aiba did - he walked away from Johnny's Traveling Circus and headed toward the city walls, following along them on the outside in search of the gates. Ryo was wrong. Maybe Aiba had joined the troupe for the wrong reason, but he wasn't relieved at all. He liked smiling faces. He liked making people happy. He liked being useful, as useful as his talents could be. And as he got further and further away from the life he had known for over a year, the tears started to well up in his eyes. He may have been late to the stage all the time and got defensive with hecklers, but there was no relief in his dismissal. Relief didn't hurt, like losing your job, your livelihood. It wasn't relief at all.

Aiba rounded the corner of the wall and wiped his face. He'd just have to find something else. Besides, eating required a job and he only had until his next meal to feel bad for himself.

"Psst."

Flames weren't useless by any means. After all, how many people could make fire? Aiba wasn't actually sure but everywhere he went people looked at him with awe when they found out he was a flame wizard. So what if the flames in question were tiny - he could still make fire with his hands. That had to be a great plus in his favor.

"Hey, psst. Psst!"

Blacksmiths used fire. He nodded, he could become an apprentice and help make armor and swords! Everyone in the circus always said he was like a workhorse - he could help with some of the pounding too. Who wouldn't want him in their shop? The fires would never go out! And people from all over the kingdom would come to see the smithy's apprentice who lit fires with his hands!

"Hey!"

Aiba had his finger on his lips, tapping it while deep in thought. People really didn't congregate around blacksmiths. In fact, he was pretty sure blacksmiths were often alone, somewhat repellent in their sweat and grime. He could keep fires burning...and then sit around for the rest of the day.

"Could you maybe get me out of here?"

Okay, he thought. Not a blacksmith. Maybe a teacher! He liked kids, he was great with them. He could look after the younger children and use the little flame animals to teach them about the world. They could sit outside in a circle and Aiba the Scholar could regale them with stories of his travels.

"You're not listening, are you?"

Until one of them tried to pick up an animal and put it in their mouth. Aiba cringed. At one point he had suggested to the troupe that he could open a little side attraction for kids - make a tiny playground for fire animals. A flea circus of flame dogs. They had shot it down pretty quickly with bets on how long it'd take before he accidentally set all the children aflame. That'd be way worse than getting fired - no reason to invite that fate upon himself.

"Wait-"

He certainly couldn't go back to trying to be a real wizard. That hadn't ended well at all. Aiba stepped to the side as he continued walking along the wall. "Ah! An alchemist!" he shouted, pounding his fist in his hand.

"Hey." It came out mumbled and disgruntled. Far too quiet to capture anyone's attention, let alone the attention of a distracted wizard well out of range. Even though Aiba had seen the set of stocks in front of him, had purposely moved to avoid walking into them, he had been entirely oblivious to the tan man with spiky hair imprisoned in the one on the far left. The prisoner made a noise of disgust and Aiba continued walking unaware and waving off his previous idea.

Alchemy was a terrible suggestion: the only idea so far that was guaranteed to result in something going boom.

"There has to be something," he said aloud. He looked up; the city wall bent out - rounded for the tower it supported above. He followed along to the other side and there he was met with a notice posted onto the stone. An official decree from the king to everyone in the city - with a number of tiny and uninteresting words at the top and "reward" in giant red letters at the bottom.

And a number. A very large number.

Aiba scrambled over to look at it as closely as he could. The reward would take care of all of his problems - it was enough to last him a lifetime. "Missing," he read aloud, "Prince...King...offering reward." Aiba paused to think for a moment. In his youth he remembered that the city residents were particularly fond of their king, but he couldn't ever remember actually _seeing_ him, let alone the prince. All of the nobility lived strictly inside the castle or in expensive homes deep in the city where the peasants were rarely allowed. And the nobility itself never deigned to step outside. He wouldn't have even known such people existed had it not been for a childhood friend...

...a childhood friend who was part of the nobility, but refused to talk about his father's title or invite Aiba to his home.

"I wonder...," he trailed off. He reached up to pull the notice from the wall. There was no description, no drawing of the prince - no way for the average subject to even remotely know who to look for. And if it was who Aiba thought it was, that reward money would pay for food, housing, maybe some real animals-

An arrow struck the notice right in the middle just as he clasped his fingers around the edge and started to pull. "Hands off," he heard.

Aiba turned to see a hooded archer walking toward him, another arrow already ready and pointed directly at him. "That's a public notice. You can't steal that," the archer told him.

Aiba laughed nervously. "I was just getting a better look," he said, backing away, "and- hey!" Once his hand had left the paper, the archer relaxed his bow and put away his arrow, freeing himself to reach up and tear the decree off of the wall. "That's a public notice!" Aiba repeated.

The archer gave him a smug half-smile and slightly cocked his head to the side. "I didn't say you couldn't steal it _because_ it was a public notice. You can't steal it because it's mine." He held it out in front of him, squinting his eyes and wrinkling up his nose as he moved it closer and further away. "No-notice...missing...juice?"

Aiba swiped it out of his hands. "You can't read it!"

"I can read, the letters at the top are just too tiny," the archer growled.

"It says the prince is missing."

"Oh," the archer replied. "That's what this is about. No wonder the reward's so large." When Aiba gave him a confused expression in return, he explained. "They've already sent all the knights out to find him with no luck. Some people even thought he was kidnapped by the princes of the Kansai Kingdom but there was no ransom note or anything. Everybody swears they haven't seen him." He backed up; Aiba had started to lean in closely - too closely - eyebrows knit in concentration during his account. "What?"

"Are you an elf?"

The archer pushed him the shoulder in response.

Aiba stammered a bit. "Sorry! You just kind of look like one..." Aiba put up his hands as he saw the archer reach back into his quiver. "Sorry, sorry!"

"Anyway, I'm going to find the prince, so it doesn't matter if you have this or not." He grabbed the notice back and folded it up to tuck into the pouch on his belt.

"Oh? Okay then," Aiba said, looking away, trying to feign innocence.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. You'll find him. ...do you know what he looks like?"

"No. How hard could it be to pick out a prince? He probably has a crown."

"What if his crown's been stolen?" Aiba countered.

The archer half-sneered in annoyance. "Then he'll be the one who answers to, 'Hey, Prince.' Besides, he's probably being held captive and heavily guarded so that makes it pretty obvious."

"You sure you're not an elf? It's just your facial features..."

The archer reached behind his back with quick speed and pulled an arrow, bringing his bow to Aiba's eye level with the string taut.

"I'm a wizard!" Aiba yelped out in defense.

The archer immediately relaxed his stance and dropped his bow down, taking a step back. "What?" A noticeable panic set in his eyes.

"I'm a wizard," Aiba repeated, nervously laughing until he was sure he wouldn't get shot in the face. "Wizards are really helpful. We could team up - we'd have better chances. Aiba Masaki." He held out his hand.

"Matsumoto Jun," the archer replied, shaking warily. "I usually go by MatsuJun."

Aiba shook his hand rigorously. "Great, see, we'd be a really good team!"

"If you're a wizard, though," MatsuJun replied, still guarded, "why would you need an archer? Wizards are all powerful, you could easily get the prince back yourself."

Aiba averted his gaze. "Archers are helpful? It's been awhile since I've been in the city but you know all the gossip, right?" He smiled widely. "And it's always good to team up with elves."

"That's it," MatsuJun said, aiming at Aiba and pulling back on the bow. "I don't care if you are a wizard!"

"You two, stop right there."

Aiba had one hand up, his finger poised to draw in the air, while the other shielded his face. He lowered it to see two of the king's guards coming toward them, halberds pointed at them for charging. MatsuJun took a step back, but kept his arrow aimed at Aiba.

"It's illegal to fight inside the city," the guard said. "By the King's authority you're under arrest."

MatsuJun looked around. "We're outside the city?"

One of the guards grabbed Aiba and pulled his arm back behind him - putting his hand on his shoulder to lead him away. "City limits extend past the walls until the bridge leading over the river," he explained.

"We weren't fighting?" Aiba tried.

Both guards looked at each other, then at MatsuJun who still had his bow at the ready, fully capable of firing off a shot at a moment's notice. "You're under arrest," the other guard repeated, taking the bow out of MatsuJun's hands and putting him into the same position as Aiba.

"Crap," MatsuJun muttered as they were led toward the gates and to the heart of the city. When they had finally reached the prison and had been thrown into a cell, he continued, "This is your fault."

"That's what you get for trying to make trouble in our beautiful kingdom," one of the guards admonished, closing the prison door behind him.

"My fault?!" Aiba balked. "You were pointing an arrow at me!"

"You're a wizard, you could have blown them up before they got to us!"

"Would you two shut up?" came a call from another cell. "So noisy."

"Okay, okay," Aiba said. "We can still team up and find the prince."

"Aiba, we're in _jail_."

"I'm working on that. No, see, once we get out, we can go straight to-"

"Will you two please shut up?" the other prisoner called.

"You shut up," MatsuJun replied.

"Yeah!" Aiba said, scooting on the cell bench closer to his new companion.

MatsuJun gave him a look and scooted further away. A moment of solidarity was not enough to unmake the damage done. "You shut up, too. It's your fault we're in here." He pulled the edge of his hood down to block Aiba out of his sight.

"No, it's okay, I think I know who the prince is."

"How?" called the other prisoner.

After a quick look of annoyance in the direction of the adjoining cell, MatsuJun hit Aiba lightly in the shoulder with the back of his hand. "Yeah, how?"

"I think he's an old friend of mine." Aiba continued before his new found colleague could sigh and sink even further down into the hood. "To get to the city from my town you have to cross the river and I used to see this kid out there every time I came over. He said he used to sneak out there when it got too stuffy in his house."

"Aiba, he probably meant his house was moldy."

"No, he was always dressed really nice! And worried about the staff finding him."

"Aiba..."

"I'm telling you, he was like a prince, it could be him!" He straightened up and finished, seriously, with, "If he's not the prince, he should be."

"Well," said the prisoner in the other cell. "Regardless, he's rich so he's probably nobility. Which means he's at least seen the prince before."

"Yeah," Aiba added, pointing in the direction of the voice.

MatsuJun idly scratched the side of his cheek with a finger while he mulled it over. "That's...actually a really good point."

On the edge of their cell, MatsuJun and Aiba saw a set of fingertips barely reaching their way into sight past the stone corner of the wall. The other prisoner was clearly struggling. "Pleased...to meet you. I can't get my hand any further than this."

"Who said you were helping us?" MatsuJun replied.

"Yeah!" Aiba added, scooting again closer to him. This time the archer nodded and crossed his arms, imitating his cellmate's expression.

"Well, you're still in jail, right?" The fingertips disappeared.

"Yeah," MatsuJun replied. "So are you."

"But I can get out."

MatsuJun scoffed. "Sure you can. Look, we were arrested for public fighting, they'll probably let us out tomorrow morning with a warning and you'll still be in here for- whatever it is that you did."

"Theft." In the next cell there was a light tapping, then clanking. A loud thud rang out as a metal bar shifted and it was quickly followed by the creaking of the door swinging open. The prisoner from the next cell emerged and stood in front of them, leaning on the bars. "I'll help you get out and we'll go find this friend today."

"How did you do that?" Aiba asked.

"They have to lock the doors to keep you in here," he explained. "And they don't lock the doors for people they never arrested in the first place."

MatsuJun looked skeptical. "Why are you in jail, then?"

"Safest place to be," he answered. "If you're already behind bars, they assume you're supposed to be here. Can't catch the city's greatest thief if you can't find him and you can't find him if he's already in jail. Rent's reasonable too."

"You're the city's greatest thief?"

He made a tiny salute with two fingers. "Ninomiya."

"MatsuJun, Aiba," the other replied, thumbing at himself and then to the side. "You're telling us you're The Nabber?"

"Nabnomiya?" Aiba joked.

"Nino's fine."

Even Aiba had heard of The Nabber during his travels - a thief so talented people actually boasted when one of their valuables had been nabbed by him, as if it were some kind of status symbol to have attracted his attention. There was no downfall to adding someone of such skill to the team and, besides, Nino was currently the only one of the three not still behind bars. "Okay," he said. "Get us out and we'll let you come with us to find the prince." He walked over and extended his hand. "Deal?"

"No," Nino answered. "I'll help you out, we'll go find the prince, and I get part of the reward."

"Oh, you know about that."

"Everyone knows about that," Nino replied.

"Part of the reward?" MatsuJun asked. "How big of a part?"

"We can discuss that later."

"No deal," MatsuJun answered. "They'll let us out in the morning."

"Hmm, for public fighting? That's usually at least three days and then they might brand you in case you're a repeat offender," Nino said. "More often than not, in my experience."

MatsuJun stood up and held out his hand. "Welcome to the team."

"Okay, so how do we get out of here?" Aiba said once everyone had shook hands.

Nino shrugged. "I sneak in and out, but my door's never locked so I've never had to actually 'break out' before."

"Great," MatsuJun replied. "Why don't we just call the guard. When he gets here, blast him with an ice bolt and Nino can grab the keys."

"You're a wizard?" Nino asked, standing to attention.

Aiba gave them both a sheepish expression, with a slight laugh. "I can't."

"Oh, you don't know any ice spells?"

"What about lightning? You could stun the guard," MatsuJun asked.

"N-no."

"Wind?" Nino tried.

"Nope."

Simultaneously, MatsuJun suggested, "Invisibility?" while Nino offered, "Acid?"

Aiba continued to laugh nervously while shaking his head.

"Fire?" MatsuJun asked, the impatience creeping into his voice.

Aiba nodded and crouched down on the ground. He traced out a shape - a few lines and a circle, a stick figure of a man - that burst into a small flame and shook itself out before sitting down on the stone floor.

"Great," Nino answered. "Start a small fire, then we'll call the guard-"

"There we go," Aiba said, holding his hands out next to the stick figure - which had since decided to spread out, its little flame stick arm barely holding up its little flame stick head.

"No, a bigger one," MatsuJun urged. "Over there in that empty cell."

"That's as big as they get."

MatsuJun blinked for a moment before his jaw slacked and his eyebrows knit together. "What?"

Aiba tried smiling wider; his companions didn't look terribly inspired by his show of confidence. He shook his head at them reproachfully. "This is a really impressive talent, actually."

"I was worried about getting into a fight with a wizard and all you can do is make stick figures?!" MatsuJun asked.

"Good enough," Nino said with a shrug, before taking a deep breath and yelling, "Guards! Guards! They're trying to escape, they started a fire!" He strolled back into his cell and pulled the door to while Aiba and MatsuJun bumped into each other in a panic, unsure if it was more convincing to seem relaxed, sitting on the bench, or poised over the fire stick man with evil grins.

Aiba motioned for the flame man to stand up. "Look bigger!" he hissed.

A guard came running in, keys in hand. "See?" Nino said, pointing over to the other cell. "They're trying to burn everything down!"

The guard laughed. "That little thing? That'll burn out in a minute." He nodded at Nino. "Thanks for always being on the look out, uh...um." He looked embarrassed. "I always forget your name."

Nino waved him off. "It's not worth remembering. Are you sure though? It's making me nervous."

"Well if you want, I can put it out," he said. The stick figure was close enough that the guard could stick his leg in and stomp without having to open the door. But when he did, MatsuJun sprang and grabbed the guard's shirt, pulling him into the metal bars as hard as he could. The guard's skull thunked against the iron.

"Hey," he cried out. "That really hurt!"

MatsuJun was at a loss. He just assumed the guard would hit his head and pass out immediately. "Sorry?"

"Let go of me!"

MatsuJun nodded, but instead tugged back on the guard's shirt as hard as he could once more, again causing him to hit his head - this time, knocking him unconscious. "Aiba grab the keys!"

Nino came out of his cell and caught the guard as MatsuJun let go - "Oof, he's heavy" - and placed him as gently on the ground as he could. Aiba stuck his arm through the bars and put the key in the lock, turning it and pushing the door open. "Let's go," Nino motioned, taking the ring back to leave on the guard's chest.

"Wait, there might be more?" MatsuJun pointed out.

"There's only ever one guard on duty." Nino started down the stairs, taking them in quick succession, confident. "How do you think I get in and out so easily?" They came to the bottom: a single door, no lock.

MatsuJun made a face. "This isn't very secure."

Nino looked up and down the road before strolling out casually. "Where's this friend of yours?"

Aiba smiled. He pulled his hat out of his pocket and shook it out, popping out the point before securing it on his head. "Follow me. Wait." He looked around his surroundings and thought for a moment. Despite many years in the city, he wasn't sure he had ever been around the prison - and he certainly hadn't been there in a while. Things had slightly changed over time. "Which way is the east bridge?"

"That way," Nino said, pointing to his right.

"Follow me!"

They headed out of town, moving as quickly as they could without appearing to be in a rush. The city thinned out the further they went - less people, less vendors. Eventually they came to the main gate that opened out into fields and a path to the east bridge. Nino gave a polite smile - forced but pleasant enough - to the guards as they passed by. "It helps to not look suspicious," he explained in a whisper to his companions.

Aiba nodded. As they left the city he waved back at the guards.

Nino pulled his arm down, hurrying him away. "That's the definition of looking suspicious."

"Oh."

Before long they reached the east bridge and the three sat down to rest, taking advantage of the water before them. "Now where?" MatsuJun asked.

Aiba looked around. "This is the right spot."

"What?"

"This is where I used to meet him," Aiba explained.

"You brought us to where you used to see him when you were a kid?" Nino asked, more shocked than upset. "Why would you think he'd randomly just be here after all this time?"

Aiba got defensive and flustered. "I don't know! Where else would I look for him? I don't know where he lived!"

MatsuJun flopped over backwards, spreading out in the grass. "I'm taking a nap." Nino nodded and rubbed his hands over his face, contemplating doing the same.

Aiba looked up at the sky, gauging the position of the sun to guess the time of day. "He usually came out around now." He had known it wasn't the most reliable plan, but his whims had never really led him astray before. Sure, they had gotten him into trouble now and then - a few accidents occurred sometimes - but things always seemed to work out. Aiba flopped back on the ground and stared up at the clouds. Maybe that's how he'd start introducing himself from now on. No longer the great flame wizard, Aiba Masaki. But Aiba the Luck Wizard, part time children's entertainer and full time lucky bastard.

The idea turned from half-joke to one with real merit as a whistling filled the air - the notes of which sounded terribly familiar to him. Aiba shot up like a light and turned to see a gentleman walking down the dusty path, a large scroll of paper tucked underneath one arm and a satchel in the other. The gentleman had nicer clothes than the average peasant and a sword hanging at his side. "Sho?" Aiba called out.

The gentleman stopped short, only to smile widely - more than seemed possible - at the sight of his old friend. "Aiba! I haven't seen you in a long time!"

MatsuJun sat up - an incredulous look on his face. "You're kidding me. He's actually here?"

"Aiba, what have you been up to? It's been so long!" Sho said. He set his paper and satchel down in the grass and embraced his friend.

"Sho! I'm so glad I found you - everyone's looking for you!"

Sho glanced around, confused. "They are? I come out here at this time every day, though."

Nino and MatsuJun exchanged looks, before the latter asked, "Why here?"

Sho gave what should have been an embarrassed smile, but his voice reflected no sense of shame. "To get out of the house." He picked up the paper to show them, handing it to Nino. "And compose poetry."

"The king's knights would have seen you when they rode out to the Kansai Kingdom, then," MatsuJun continued. "Which means..."

"Isn't that kind of a really big reward if he's just coming out to the bridge every day?" Aiba asked.

"Reward?" Sho pointed to himself and yelled, "Me?! There's no reward for me!"

Nino had unrolled the empty scroll of paper, a pile forming at his feet. "How long are these poems?"

Sho couldn't help but laugh at his old friend. "You thought I was the prince?"

Aiba nervously giggled over his answer. "No, no." He knew if he stopped he'd instead start pointing at Sho's smile - that wide, ridiculous smile - and demanding how he was supposed to know otherwise. "We, uh..."

"We came to ask you about the prince," MatsuJun stepped in. He turned to look at Nino, who glanced at the sword fastened to Sho's side before nodding. "You've met him before, right?"

"A few times."

MatsuJun smiled. "So you know what he looks like."

"Sort of," Sho replied. "I met him when we were much younger." He jutted out his chin while he searched his memory. "He's...maybe average height, shorter. Average hair, lighter than mine. Slim. Yeah."

Nino almost fell over at the conclusion. "That's not really helpful."

Sho sat down on the ground and pulled his paper and satchel over to him. "Here, I'll show you what he looks like then." He licked the tip of the quill pen and then opened the bottle of ink he had been carrying, dipping it in carefully. "He has hair kind of like...this," he said scribbling. "And his nose is pretty distinct." After a few more strokes, and mumbles to himself, Sho held the paper up to Nino. "There you go, that should give you some idea."

Nino took it and inspected the drawing. "This is even less helpful."

He handed it over to MatsuJun, who squinted and then whispered back, "I think my eyesight's worse than I realized."

"It's not," Nino whispered back.

"Oh." MatsuJun quickly shoved it over to Aiba. "I think I might be sick."

Aiba smiled politely and nodded as he attempted to secretly trace his finger around the paper, making several little flame birds that quickly caught the drawing on fire.

"Hey!" Sho exclaimed.

"Ahaha, sorry that was an accident, well thanks for your help Sho-"

"Fine," Sho said, putting his stuff back in the satchel. "I think there's a portrait of the entire royal family somewhere in my house. We can check it out before we start looking for the prince."

"We?" MatsuJun asked.

"I'll join you!" Sho said, earnestly. "Every noble son is required to become a knight but there's not a lot to do unless you become one of the king's personal guards. There's only so many balls you can go to - this'll be fun!"

"I don't know," Nino started.

"Please?" Sho asked. He looked straight at Aiba. "Pleeeeeeease?"

"Well..."

"I've already got money," Sho replied. "I won't take any of the reward, I just want to something to do."

"Oh, in that case," the other three said.

"We better get going," Sho offered, his hand on the hilt of his sword at his side. He puffed up his chest and took a step forward, to even his stance as he pulled on the handle. "Let's go, m- Huh?" The sword was stuck. Sho pulled at it several times with no success. "Shit, it's always doing this," he muttered to himself.

"Let's start back," Aiba answered, with a hand on his shoulder.

"Okay."

Nino purposely walked slower until he was some length behind the two, MatsuJun at his side. He leaned over and whispered, "If the prince is in another kingdom, maybe we should conveniently lose Sho in the woods before any of the fighting starts?"

By the time they reached the Sakurai household, the sun was setting and torches were being lit. Sho's family was on the furthest side of the city. "My father's supposed to be attending a ceremony tonight but that shouldn't be a problem," he said as they approached the entrance. He reached out to grab the large cast iron handle of the giant door and said as he walked forward, "He's frequently required to att-" He smacked face-first into the wood. The door wouldn't budge.

"Huh?" he said, trying the handle again. "That's weird." He laughed nervously. "It's okay, we can get through a side entrance." That door wouldn't move either. Nor would the windows for the main hall. "Is everything locked?!" he yelled at the empty house.

"What about that window?" MatsuJun said, pointing to an open one a story above.

Aiba sized up the situation. "We could climb the windowsill here, pull up on the roof of the barn and jump to the window."

"Or we could wait for his dad to get home," Nino offered.

"I thought The Nabber liked a challenge," MatsuJun said, heading toward the sill. It looked like he had started a race but only bothered to tell Aiba about it. Not one to be left behind, Sho started scrambling to catch up soon after.

Nino sighed and slowly started walking to the corner to follow. "The Nabber likes keeping his bones intact more."

With some jostling, MatsuJun got to the wall first, just a small jump and a pull-up away from getting inside. Aiba followed in, grabbing the ledge before the other had even finished hauling his feet in. He ended up over the sill faster than he had planned, which was unfortunate given that MatsuJun was still where he needed to be, causing him to crash head first into the other.

"Guys!"

Aiba tried to stifle his laughter while MatsuJun pushed him over, jockeying to see out the window. "We'll be quiet," Aiba promised.

Sho called, "A little help?"

The two reached down to offer their hands. Sho jumped up and clasped on, walking up the wall as they pulled. He hadn't quite been able to reach the sill to grab like they had. Nino didn't even try. He waited for the hands to reappear before letting them pull him in.

"I'll find a candle," Sho told them, patting around in the dark.

"Why don't we just come with you? That'd be quicker," MatsuJun suggested. He grabbed onto the back of Sho's shirt and then offered his hand to Aiba.

Aiba latched on; Nino stood there. "I don't think it'll be that hard to follow," he explained, still unwilling to hold hands.

"Shh," Sho said. "You might scare the chambermaid."

"Why did we sneak in the window if you have a chambermaid inside?" MatsuJun asked, tone blunt.

"She's old and falls asleep a lot, I didn't want to wake her!" Sho motioned for them to follow. "The fire in the kitchen should still be going."

They bumped and tripped through the darkness, grazing up against paintings and tables along the way. Finally a small light emerged through the hall, illuminating the stairs down to the kitchen. Sho pulled them along, becoming less and less careful the closer they got to the bottom. "That's weird."

"What?" Aiba asked.

"She's not here." He looked around the kitchen until he came to the front door that was now unbarred and wide open. "That's really weird."

"There! There they are! They're stealing my lord blind!"

The four of them froze as Sho realized a little too late that the chambermaid had immediately set out to find guards the second she heard their crash upstairs. "Don't worry, don't worry," he told the other three. "I'll explain."

"You do know that we have the city's most notorious thief with us, right?" MatsuJun asked.

"It's fine," he reassured them. "Ah, I apologize for this, you see I got locked out and-"

"You're under arrest!" the guards announced, charging in. "We caught you robbing this manor!" The first one grabbed Sho and started to put his arm behind his back.

"No, no, I live here, I'm the son of the lord of this manor," he explained, a slight laugh. "We weren't stealing anything."

The guards seemed unconvinced.

"No, really. I live here, I can't steal from myself. Ask the chambermaid!"

The old woman remained outside, unwilling to come in while the guards were still wrestling with four young men. By this time the sun had set completely and she had to squint through the night air. "My lord's son would never break into his own house."

"About that, the doors were locked and- I'm not stealing from myself!" Sho protested.

"Uh-huh," one of the guards replied. He pushed Nino forward until he was right in front of Sho, holding up a dagger with a golden hilt right in front of his face. "Where'd he get this from then?"

"That was on the wall in the hallway," Sho started as he watched the guards pass it around.

"And this?" The guard said, reaching into Nino's pocket and pulling out a bag of coins.

"Hey!" MatsuJun exclaimed. "That's mine! That was in my pouch, when did you-"

"And this!" the guard finished, reaching in once more and pulling out an onion. An onion that had only a moment before been on one of the tables in the kitchen where they now stood.

Nino shrugged. "What? I'm not going to stop just because we're on some sort of quest."

"You are all under arrest for theft."

"Unhand me!" Sho commanded, wresting himself free and reaching to his side for his sword. It wouldn't come out. "Not again." As the guards led them out of the house, he shouted out into the night: "I can't steal from myself!"

For the second time that day - and the first time ever in Sho's life - they found themselves behind bars in the prison, this time the guard personally checking the lock on Nino's cell before leaving the floor.

MatsuJun and Aiba were back in the same cell; Sho joined Nino's next to them. MatsuJun found a corner and sat down with some force, keeping distance between him and everyone else, eyes scanning in the dark. Nino fished around in his pockets for an apple that hadn't been confiscated and lied down, his back to the rest. Aiba gave them each their own little animal to light up the night, pushing two little fire rats outside the bars and scooting them toward the next cell. "Thanks," Sho said. He couldn't conceal his smile. "You know," he told them. "It's bad that we got arrested, but I've never been in a prison before!"

"It's not that great when you can't leave when you want to," Nino countered.

"Don't worry, we'll get the whole mess straightened out in the morning," he replied. "My father will come and explain-"

"Your father has to know you were arrested before he'll think to look for you in jail," Nino pointed out.

"Oh." Sho's smiled faded. "That could be a problem."

"We'll deal with it in the morning," Nino said, putting his head down to sleep.

On the other side, Aiba was busy counting on his fingers, walking around the cell and narrowly missing his own tiny fire rat.

"What are you doing?" MatsuJun asked.

"Trying to figure out how much of the reward we'll each get. We just have to get back to Sho's house to see the portrait and go from there."

MatsuJun sighed, but couldn't help but smile. "You still think we'll find the prince?"

"Cooking!" Aiba announced.

"What?"

"I'd have enough to buy a place and I could turn it into a tavern," he replied, pleased with himself. Of course - taverns always needed fire. For lights, for food, for entertainment. He was fairly decent at cooking, as well. And while it meant staying put, he'd never lack for smiling faces or people to help. "What about you, what are you going to do with your part of the reward?"

"Clothes."

"Oh."

"No," MatsuJun started. "I mean I'd buy something nicer. When I save the prince, maybe I can be part of the court then."

Aiba nodded. "You want to join the nobility."

"I want to be the king."

Aiba paused and then covered his mouth quickly before a nervous giggle escaped - lest it be misconstrued as mocking his friend's dream. Still, he felt a little uncomfortable at not having realized how ambitious the archer really was. "What about you, Sho?"

Sho leaned up against the wall between them. "I told you I wouldn't take any."

"You can have some."

"Says who," Nino replied, quietly.

"Maybe pay to have some of my poems written in calligraphy, bind them as books," Sho answered. "What about you, Nino?"

"Give it to orphans."

"Really?" Sho said, the answer surprising him.

"You'll never know if you don't go to sleep."

"Good night," Aiba called to them. "Hey, they'll probably just let us go in the morning anyway, right?"

"Right," Nino said. He rubbed his face with his hand, not willing to burst the bubble. "Yeah, right. Good night, Aiba."

The next day they were roused by the bright sun and the gruff sound of a guard commanding, "Get up."

"Are we being released?" MatsuJun asked.

"No," the guard snorted as his companions pulled each of the four out one by one. "You're thieves. But since you stole from each other and an onion...three days in the stocks."

Nino sighed in relief as they led him toward the stairs. Still, the jail had been his home for some time. He was in the odd position of hoping to never see it again, but sad that he wouldn't. At least his identity as The Nabber seemed intact, despite ample opportunity to have been ratted out. "The stocks," he said, winking at the others. "Oh no."

"Can I go free?" Sho asked. "I don't think you can technically punish me for breaking into my own house."

They were led outside the city walls to where the stocks were kept. Each of the four was pushed in front of the wooden devices, forced to bend over and put his hands and head through, locked in once the top was pulled down and secured. The sun was out and beating down and Aiba began to sweat quickly. Next to him Nino was busy rattling about, able to pull his small hands through the holes but still trapped by his head. Sho was moaning about how hot it was. MatsuJun just glared.

"What are you thinking about?" Aiba asked, trying to lighten up his mood.

"Honestly, trying to kick up that rock by my foot."

"Oh, to break the lock?"

"Yeah probably," MatsuJun answered, grimacing as he shifted his stance, his back already starting to hurt from the forced position. "Or maybe just throwing it at your head."

"Relax, relax," Aiba replied. "I've got an idea."

"Aiba, this entire thing's your fault! None of this would have happened if you hadn't pretended to be a wizard."

"I am a wizard! And you were aiming the bow at me!"

MatsuJun paused - okay, yes, true. "I had to, you wouldn't stop going on about that elf thing!"

It occurred to Aiba that the guards had made MatsuJun remove his hood before securing his head in the stock. If he could only move his head a little more to the side, he was sure he could get a good look at the other's ears - and he was sure that when he did...

The sudden scrutiny did not go unnoticed by MatsuJun. "I am definitely going to throw that rock at your face. I'm not an elf!"

"It's so hot," Sho bemoaned.

"Thanks a lot Aiba," MatsuJun replied.

"Yeah, thanks a lot, Aiba."

The foursome all turned their heads at the sound of a new voice. At the end of the stocks was the tan man with spiky hair. "How long has he been there?" Nino asked.

"Three days!" the man replied.

"What'd I do to you?" Aiba called back.

"You walked by yesterday when I asked for help," he answered. He gestured with his head to the other end where MatsuJun was. "Him too."

Aiba became indignant. "How am I supposed to help you out? You're a criminal!"

"Why are you here?" MatsuJun added.

"Uh," the other man said, his face still impassive. "Repeat...public intoxication." He put on an aire of defensiveness and pointed at them with his chin. "What about you?"

"Theft," MatsuJun answered.

"No," Aiba interjected. "We're not really thieves, we only stole from ourselves."

"Technically," MatsuJun corrected him, "Nino's the only one who stole anything."

"But we were arrested for breaking into a house he owns," Aiba continued, tilting his head in the direction of Sho.

The man at the end blinked, staring at them with slack jaw, processing their story. Thieves...really bad thieves at that. Really bad thieves who hadn't really stolen anything but nonetheless ended up in the stocks. And this is whom he had asked to help set him free? "Hey," he called, straining his neck to the right, away from the foursome, trying to catch glimpse of anyone who might be walking around the city walls. "Can anyone help me?"

Sho groaned. "We're going to die out here."

"It's been less than two hours," Nino pointed out. "I've almost got my head o-"

"Don't worry," Aiba announced. "I have an idea." He rotated his right wrist, as best he could through the hole of the stock, and reached up, trying to squiggle a shape with his index finger. He couldn't quite see what he was doing, but it didn't matter - this was no time to be self-conscious about artistry.

The little flame creature popped to life - something that looked a lot like a mouse with a long tail and stood on its back feet - and it scurried to the top of the board that held Aiba down and in place. "Go, go," he told it, trying to flick it away. When it wouldn't listen he tried blowing at it - until finally it started to hop along the wood, leaving tiny smoking footprints in its wake. Delighted by the success, Aiba moved his finger around quickly, shooting out copies.

"What are you doing?" MatsuJun asked.

"The stocks are made of wood, right?" Aiba replied. "We'll burn our way out!" Smoke began to rise out of the board and with a sense of satisfaction, he immediately started on the next batch of animals, shooing them toward his friends.

"If you burn the wood," Sho replied, in panic, "you'll burn us too!" Immediately he and the other three started struggling against their constraints, rattling and pulling, trying anything to pop out before they were accidentally set on fire.

"Don't worry," Aiba repeated. All he had to do was make enough so that the wood weakened. As they started to congregate on the boards, they'd leave more and more trails - bigger and bigger chunks of flame until finally the wood caught fire. But before it did too much damage, Aiba thought, he just had to turn whatever flames they left behind into new animals that could scamper away until finally everyone could break free. It was a genius plan.

Except Aiba had never remotely turned a pre-existing fire into one his creatures before. And as they started to pile up, falling over each other and off the stocks - the crackling of real fire ringing out next to his ears - he quickly realized that even if he managed to make it work, they were now spreading too fast for him to keep up. "Oops."

"Oops? What do you mean, 'Oops?'" Sho demanded in panic.

"No, see, I just need to make the new flames into animals, just like," Aiba said, snapping his fingers, "this!"

At the sound, every single creature stopped what it was doing - scratching at the wood, licking little fire paws, chasing little fire tails - and sat at attention. They began climbing down the stocks, pouring down into a single line that was heading directly toward MatsuJun.

"Aiba!"

"They're not supposed to do that!" He tried snapping again. The creatures didn't listen and charged instead. He snapped again, and again, in a panic, each time accidentally urging them to pile on MatsuJun's stock as fast as they could.

"Stop snapping!" MatsuJun yelled.

"Sorry! Sorry! They're just supposed to weaken the wood!"

"Huh?" MatsuJun looked above him - the board now covered with the little fire animals - and when he reached his hand over near one, he could feel the heat coming off of it like one would when holding a finger too close to a lit candle. He imagined if he touched it, it would hurt just the same - which prompted him to try, anyway. "Ow," he said, shaking out his hand. That's when it occurred to him that something felt very odd about the fact that he was supposedly engulfed by a swarm of the animals. He could feel their heat, very easily - on top of the bright sun it was unbearable. But he wasn't in any _pain_. "They are just weakening the wood," he said to himself.

He pulled his arms back as far as he could, the edges of his palms against the bottom board so he could push up with everything he had. The wood above him creaked. Aiba's plan had actually worked.

MatsuJun pushed up again and again, until finally he was able to bust through his constraint and scramble backwards into the stone city wall. A few of the flame creatures had come with him, sitting on his shoulder and attempting to nuzzle. "Get off, get off!" he said, furiously brushing them away.

"It worked," Nino yelled over the commotion.

"I'm still on fire!" Sho added.

Aiba felt empowered and with a triumphant laugh, snapped his fingers and said, "Now, go free-"

"No," MatsuJun said, walking over and covering his mouth. "I'll get the others out."

"But it worked."

"Let's not tempt fate," Nino agreed.

"Still on fire!" Sho yelled.

MatsuJun set about as quickly as he could, kicking at the smoldering wood around them and lifting with all of his strength until, one by one, the boards started to break and his three companions were set free. He helped Nino first, who only needed assistance getting his head out and was thus the easiest to do. In turn they both helped Sho, who immediately started stomping out every tiny fire in his vicinity. Aiba had bided his time trying to plan what to do - not only had he created too many of the animals, but they seemed to have multiplied in the time since they had left his side. They seemed happy and content to hang out on MatsuJun's stock as it slowly burnt down to ashes - but before too long they'd probably accidentally set the city on fire.

"This could be a problem," he said as the others pulled him out of the restraint.

MatsuJun flopped on the ground. "Next time let's just wait out our sentence?" He was followed by Sho, who seemed more than content to roll upon the grass as if he had been locked away in a dark dungeon for decades - embracing the simple pleasures that he wasn't sure he'd ever see again. Aiba crouched down next to his horde of minions, with Nino behind him rubbing his own sore neck.

"What do we do with them?" Aiba asked. "They can't stay here, but I don't want to put them out, they helped us!"

Nino thought for a moment when an image popped into his mind: Aiba marching down the city street at that very moment, maniacally laughing as lines of flames marched behind him. Too many people in the world would know exactly what to do with an army of flame monsters, even if they were small. "I'm glad we're friends now," he muttered, a slight look of disconcert on his face. "Can't you command them to extinguish themselves or something?"

"I've never tried that," Aiba answered. He shrugged and then snapped his fingers. The fire creatures one by one started to pop out of existence, curling themselves into balls so tight that they disappeared. Aiba felt heartbroken at the response - he'd never ask this of them again.

Nino saw his expression and reluctantly put a hand on his shoulder. "It's better this way."

"Yeah," Aiba answered. "I guess."

"Um?"

The foursome turned their heads to look at the last stock in the line - still holding the man from before - now smoking with a few flames that had strayed from the group. "Help?" he said.

MatsuJun shrugged. Why not? He and Aiba quickly went about freeing the man - an alternate ending to their encounter the day before.

He plopped down on the ground next to them and grunted in relief, rubbing his wrists. "Thanks."

Aiba moved closer with a small laugh as MatsuJun went around their small circle with the requisite introductions. "Aiba, Sho, Nino," he said pointing, then getting to himself. "MatsuJun."

"Oh," the man said nodding in turn. "Ohno."

Sho choked and sat up like a bolt. "What?" He rubbed his eyes thinking maybe the heat or the bright light or the smoke had messed up his vision. "You're not Prince Ohno."

Ohno gave him a look. "I am too."

"This guy's the prince?" MatsuJun asked, incredulous at such a preposterous statement.

"You mean the prince's footman right?" Nino added.

Sho continued, "I've seen Prince Ohno before at the castle, during balls thrown by the king. You can't be him."

Ohno sighed and slowly picked himself up. As he stood before them his gaze was blank and unfocused, his posture poor and his demeanor almost made him invisible. He took a deep breath and straightened up, holding his arms out to the side and courteously bowing while telling them in a strong, clear voice that was nothing like the way he had sounded before, "Thank you for coming this evening."

Sho's mouth dropped open. "Prince Ohno!" He quickly scrambled into the appropriate kneeling position before the heir to the crown.

Ohno just clicked his tongue in annoyance, slumping back to his previous posture while scratching his ear.

"No wonder they hide him in the castle," Nino commented.

"How does the prince get arrested and thrown in the stocks for public drunkenness?" MatsuJun asked. "Are the guards the one who kidnapped you? A plot to overthrow the king?"

"I never said I was kidnapped," Ohno replied. "I just went out drinking."

"Yeah, who would know he was the prince?" Nino pointed out.

Ohno looked sore at the topic. "Those stupid knights rode by like seven times and never stopped once."

"So," Aiba said, smile bright, "it all worked out in the end. We'll take the prince home, get the reward-"

"I don't want to go with you," Ohno replied. "You tried to set me on fire."

"No, I got it," Aiba continued. "MatsuJun, you take him back to the castle, claim the reward. Then the king will think you saved his son and you can ask to be part of the court. You'll split the reward money with us and everybody gets what they want."

"Not me," Ohno pointed out. "I don't want to go back."

"Sneak out again once we've got the money," Aiba offered.

MatsuJun's eyes lit up and he playfully pushed Aiba in the shoulder. "That might actually work. He can keep sneaking out..."

"With Nino's help, then you'll get promoted every time you rescue him, I'll have money to start my tavern and Sho will have something to write poems about," Aiba concluded, getting more and more excited.

"But I don't want to go back," Ohno tried to interject, again, in vain.

"Yeah we could do that," Nino answered. "Or..."

"Or what?" MatsuJun asked.

"He's really innocent looking, isn't he?" Nino said, motioning toward the prince. "He could probably slip into a crowd easily. If you think about our talents together..."

MatsuJun scoffed. "You mean a drunken prince, a wizard who can't cast any spells, a poet who couldn't pull his own sword out, a thief who's now homeless because he got kicked out of jail-"

"An archer who can't read tiny print," Aiba added.

"And doesn't have any arrows," Sho finished.

"Okay, or," Nino replied, "someone who can blend in with a crowd, a master thief, a nobleman with credentials, a quick witted archer and-"

"A luck wizard," Aiba said with a smile.

"A luck wizard," Nino agreed. "Who can make an army. Of fire. That's a fairly specialized set of skills."

"What," MatsuJun asked, "like a bunch of adventurers?"

"Sounds better than writing poetry," Sho offered.

Ohno shrugged. "As long as I don't have to keep living in the palace."

"I don't know," MatsuJun said, folding his arms across his chest.

"If you do quests in other lands," Nino enticed, "you can gain influence there too. Why settle for here when you could rule _every_ kingdom?"

"Sold."

They all turned to look at Aiba, who didn't even have to say a word. Adventuring was useful, adventuring made him helpful. Adventuring, he could see, would bring about many smiling faces. He had plenty of time later to enact a plan B. With a giant grin he nodded. "Let's go see the world."  



End file.
